Leadership Studies Program

Peter L. Jennings

Associate Professor of Leadership Studies and Brouwer D. and Jane E. McIntyre Chair in Business Administration

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Leadership studies at Hillsdale College begin with the knowledge that leadership is not rank, titles, or privileges, but service, and then prepares students to become worthy of that responsibility.
— Peter Jennings

Faculty Information

Additional Faculty Information for Peter L. Jennings

Education

B.S. in Economics, Miami University
M.B.A., Michigan State University
Ph.D. in Management, Arizona State University

Publications

“Towards an Ethical Wealth of Nations: An Institutional Perspective on the Relation between Ethical Values and National Economic Prosperity.” Business Ethics Quarterly, 2015.
“The moral self: A review and integration of the literature.” Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2014.
“Duty orientation: Theoretical development and preliminary construct testing.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2014.
“Leader ethos: How character contributes to the social influence of the leader.” In Leader Interpersonal Skills: The Soft Skills of Leaderships, 2014.
“The Psychological and Neurological Bases of Leader Self-Complexity.” Journal of Applied Psychology, 2013.
“Leader ethos and big-C character.” Organizational Dynamics, 2013.
“The moralities of obligation and aspiration: Towards a concept of exemplary military ethics and leadership.” Military Psychology, 2011.
“A framework for understanding leadership and individual requisite complexity.” Organizational Psychology Review, 2011.
“Tactical military leader requisite complexity: Toward a referent structure.” Military Psychology, 2010.
“Complex adaptive leadership: Defining what constitutes effective leadership for complex organizational contexts.” In Knowledge Driven Corporation: Complex Creative Destruction, 2008.

Undergraduate Courses

BUS 419: Business Ethics (The Spirit of American Enterprise)
BUS 418: Readings in Leadership, Power, and Responsibility
LDR 418: Sound Learning for Leadership
LDR 420: Sound Biblical Learning for Leadership
LDR 403: Reading Once and Eagle
LDR 402: Military Small Unit Leadership
LDR 401: Officership in the American Military Tradition
LDR 302: Hillsdale College at Gettysburg
LDR 301: Hillsdale Honor: The Civil War Experience
CSP 101: The Liberal Arts Tradition

Graduate Courses

MGT 3512: Practice and Morality of Leadership
MGT 3505: Business, Integrity & Society
MGT 3500: Building & Leading High-Performance Teams

Biography

Professor Jennings has been pursuing truth and defending liberty as a member of the Hillsdale College faculty since 2016. He is an Associate Professor of Leadership Studies and holds the Brouwer D. and Jane E. McIntyre Chair in Business Administration. He teaches a variety of courses on leadership or what he calls “applied moral philosophy”—moral thought directed toward practical complexities of leadership in the “real world.” He also serves—with his canine assistant Lucas—as chaplain for the Hillsdale College football team. He was voted Professor of the Year by the Hillsdale College class of 2021.

Professor Jennings holds a B.S. in Economics from Miami University, an M.B.A from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. in Management from Arizona State University. His prior academic appointments include a professorship at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business and Research Director for the Center for the Army Profession and Ethic at the United States Military Academy at West Point. His scholarship has appeared in leading academic journals.

Professor Jennings is a native of the great lake state of Michigan, descendant of Christian immigrants from Germany and Sweden who sought in America the inestimable blessings of liberty. His prior professional experience includes management positions at IBM and management consulting at Price Waterhouse. He is a proud U.S. Marine infantry officer and veteran of the Gulf, Iraq and Afghan wars, in which he earned recognition including the Bronze Star Medal with combat distinguishing “V” device for valor.

Professor Jennings is married to his lovely wife Roberta. Their grown son Max is an aspiring actor; their daughter Maribelle loves attending the Hillsdale Academy. Together they enjoy living just blocks from campus and regularly hosting food and fellowship gatherings for students and colleagues.